Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Service Ace could prove too poweful

Chad Cooke
It’s back to the Vaal inside turf track on Thursday afternoon where punters face a tough 11-races card that will need some careful navigation to ensure a return on investments.
The main event is the eighth, a 1 600m MR 90 Handicap in which 13 runners will be at odds for the R89 000 on offer.
This is a very open contest and at least a third, if not more, of the field needs to be included in the Pick 6 to have a reasonable chance of surviving and moving on to the last leg of the exotic.
Topping the list of potential winners is the Mike Azzie-trained Service Ace.
This three-year-old son of Fort Wood has done very little wrong barring his last run where he was backed but refused to jump and obviously never got close to getting in a blow. The gelding’s three runs prior to that resulted in a third, a win and a second over a mile and 1 900m.
Azzie’s charge has lots of scope and ignoring his last run, has all the credentials to win a race of this nature.
He has drawn wide which is an obvious disadvantage but the booking of jockey Anton Marcus, who will post 0,5kg over weight, suggests that this is the horse for the race.
The down side to this argument is that Service Ace has not met this calibre of horse before and as such one has to err on the side of caution and include more tested runners.
One such runner is the Grant Maroun-trained Amatol, a three-year-old son of Dominion Royale.
This colt might have only recorded one win to date but he has good form behind decent sorts and has done well over the course and distance before. He has drawn well and looks set to make an impression.
Another runner that has to be considered a potential winner is Mike de Kock’s runner, Honour The Jury.
This Jallad gelding comes off a four-month break and could need the outing but he has excellent form, having only run out of the money once in his five runs to date, winning once.
The gelding has shown a liking for the distance but has yet to race at this course. He has also dranw wide which are both hurdles he will have to overcome.
Airwolf and Emir are both tried and tested sorts and on their day are more than capable. It would be foolish to exclude them from any Pick 6 perms.

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